Same Old Lang Syne
Dan Fogelberg Lyrics

Met my old lover in the grocery store
I coincidentally encountered an ex-girlfriend at the supermarket

The snow was falling Christmas Eve
It was Christmas Eve and snowflakes were gently falling from the sky

I stood behind her in the frozen foods
I stood behind her in the frozen foods section of the store

And I touched her on the sleeve
I reached out and touched her on the sleeve of her coat

She didn't recognize the face at first
At first, she didn't recognize who I was

But then her eyes flew open wide
But then she suddenly realized who I was and her eyes widened in surprise

She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
She tried to hug me, but accidentally dropped her purse and spilled its contents

And we laughed until we cried
We found the situation so humorous that we laughed until tears streamed down our faces

We took her groceries to the check out stand
We carried her groceries to the checkout counter

The food was totaled up and bagged
The cashier added up the cost of the groceries and bagged them for us

We stood there lost in our embarrassment
We awkwardly stood there, feeling embarrassed by the situation

As the conversation lagged
As we struggled to find topics to talk about

We went to have ourselves a drink or two
We decided to have a few drinks together

But couldn't find an open bar
However, we were unable to find a nearby open bar

We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
As a result, we purchased a six-pack of beer from a liquor store

And we drank it in her car
We proceeded to drink the beer in the car she had driven to the store

We drank a toast to innocence
We raised our bottles and toasted to the innocence of our youth

We drank a toast to now
We drank another toast to the present moment

We tried to reach beyond the emptiness
We attempted to overcome the feelings of emptiness that we shared

But neither one knew how
Despite our efforts, we were unable to overcome those feelings

She said she's married her an architect
She informed me that she had married an architect

Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She described how her husband kept her comfortable, secure, and protected

She would have liked to say she loved the man
However, she confessed that she was unwilling to lie by saying she loved him

But she didn't like to lie
She didn't want to be dishonest with me or with herself

I said the years had been a friend to her
I commented that time had treated her well

And that her eyes were still as blue
And that the color of her eyes, blue, had not changed

But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw
However, I was not completely confident that I could interpret everything I saw in her eyes

Doubt or gratitude
Whether she was experiencing doubt or gratitude

She said she saw me in the record stores
She shared that she had seen me in music stores

And that I must be doing well
She inferred that I was doing quite well in my life

I said the audience was heavenly
I responded by expressing how wonderful it is to perform in front of an appreciative audience

But the traveling was Hell
However, I added that traveling as part of the performance schedule is extremely difficult

We drank a toast to innocence
We once again lifted our glasses and toasted to the purity of our past

We drank a toast to time
Our next toast was to the concept of time itself

Reliving, in our eloquence
As we spoke about the past, each of us became more articulate

Another "Auld Lang Syne"
We essentially created another instance of the classic tune, Auld Lang Syne, in our conversation

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
We had finished the beer, and our conversation had grown weary

And running out of things to say
We had said everything we could say and were rapidly approaching the end of the conversation

She gave a kiss to me as I got out
Before I left the car, she kissed me goodbye

And I watched her drive away
I watched as she drove off into the distance

Just for a moment I was back at school
For a brief moment, I returned to my school years mentally

And felt that old familiar pain
I experienced familiar feelings of sadness and regret

And, as I turned to make my way back home
As I turned to walk away and return home

The snow turned into rain
The snowflakes had transformed into raindrops, signaling a change or ending to the moment